


Ruin everything

by Melime



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, F/F, Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-11 21:31:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13532934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melime/pseuds/Melime
Summary: She never expected Barbara to be the one to ruin everything.





	Ruin everything

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Português brasileiro available: [Arruinar tudo](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13532940) by [Melime GreenLeaf (Melime)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melime/pseuds/Melime%20GreenLeaf)



She was raised to serve her family, to assist her brother in his mission of vengeance, and no one ever cared about what she wanted. Tabitha herself never much cared, it wasn’t like she had the option to decide what to do with her life. It was her brother’s show, and she was just along for the ride, up until the moment that it wasn’t, when she realized that she wouldn’t follow his madness anymore. There were lines that she wouldn’t cross, and she was glad to have learnt that before wasting her entire life in the pursuit of the impossible dream of restoring the family to its former glory.

The problem with turning her back to everything she ever knew was that she had her entire life in front of her now, and no idea what to do with it. As it turned out, she never much cared about riches, or even power, at least not the type that came with having to constantly look over one’s shoulder, always expecting betrayal at every turn.

Tabitha wasn’t too eager to search for a new purpose in life, but the lack of a plan didn’t bother her. She saw where having grand plans got her brother, and she wasn’t about to make the same mistake. All she wanted was to have some fun, kill some people, wreck some havoc, and if she could do it with some company, all the better.

She would never know why her brother gave Barbara to her, if she was supposed to keep Barbara in check until she could be used in the plan, or if Barbara was a distraction to keep Tabitha from rebelling.

It didn’t matter either way. Tabitha had a short attention span when it came to playing with people, and the novelty of having a fresh victim to manipulate and torture wore off rather quickly. If Barbara had been like everyone else, by the time Theo needed her to play a part in his master plan, Tabitha would have long since grown tired of her.

Of course, that was exactly the issue, Barbara wasn’t like everyone else, she could never be like everyone else. As hungry as she was for power and validation, Barbara failed to see her true potential and the extent of her charms. It was ironic, Barbara was so clever, and yet she was unable to see what was right in front of her eyes. Tabitha wondered if Barbara was even aware of what made her so special, of what made Jason and Theo choose her for their plans. Probably not, for all her arrogance, Barbara seemed to lack awareness of some of her most distinctive qualities.

Tabitha never had a goal of her own, and she never knew what would make her happy, but she didn’t expect to find happiness in a simple life with Barbara, away from trouble and on the right side of the law. Well, mostly. At least it was as quiet a life as people like them could have. Sure, their nightclub was somewhat disreputable, they had connections that were just the right kind of bad, and they were certainly involved with the criminal underworld, but that was Gotham, no one was entirely clean, at least no one successful. For Tabitha and Barbara’s standards, this was a peaceful, uneventful life.

Still, they hardly ever injured anyone, and they didn’t went out of their way to torture and kill. For Tabitha, it was a quieter life than she ever imagined herself living, but she would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy it, even though, from time to time, she would miss having regular kills.

It was in her nature, it was what she was trained to do her entire life. Tabitha was a fighter and a torturer and an assassin, those were the things that defined her, and without them she was nothing. A quiet life, with the minimum excitement that being marginally involved with the criminal families provided, wasn’t for her. The only reason they were doing this was because Barbara wanted it, and Tabitha would do anything for Barbara. If it were up to Tabitha, they might as well be terrorizing the city.

So, it wasn’t surprising that Tabitha always expected she would be the one to ruin everything and leave. It seemed only natural, that eventually her instincts would kick in and she would no longer be able to pretend that she could be just a nightclub owner. A normal life wasn’t for her, not even what passed as normal under Gotham’s disturbed standards.

She never expected Barbara to be the one to ruin everything.

They should never have trusted Nygma, even if they planned to kill him later. He hurt Tabitha and that should have been enough to keep Barbara from wanting to work with him, but it wasn’t. In the end, her ambition got the better of her, she could never just accept what she had, Barbara always needed more. And Tabitha wanted her to have it, but not like this, not when everything depended on their ability to trust the lunatic that cut of Tabitha’s hand because of a fucking misunderstanding and then had to guts to waltz in in front of her and make jokes as if Tabitha didn’t have every right to kill him where he standed.

Barbara trusted Nygma despite everything, but that was still something that Tabitha could forgive, was willing to forgive. If only they could move past it and carry on.

It wasn’t with ill intent that she gave Nygma away to Gordon, she would never have allowed Barbara to get caught in the crossfire, and she would never have betrayed Barbara. Tabitha was just protecting Barbara from herself, from her own unsustainable ambition, from forces beyond what they both could deal with.

Things weren’t supposed to end like this. Tabitha never expected Barbara to leave her, but this wasn’t about Nygma, not anymore. Barbara’s ambition finally got the better of her, and she wanted everything she couldn’t have, she wanted to rule over Gotham with nothing above her head, and she would pursue that goal, even if she had to push Tabitha away to do it.

In the end, Barbara was the one to put an end to their happiness.


End file.
